Review: Sharkoon Quickport Duo USB3.0

Posted by Will Smith

Thursday, 26 August 2010 03:43

Article Index
Review: Sharkoon Quickport Duo USB3.0
Specifications and Features
Photo Gallery and Closer Look
System Properties and Everest Info
Everest Disk Read Test
Everest Disk Write Test
Sandra Disk Test
Verdict and Conclusion

Page 1 of 8

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Introduction

System builders and computer enthusiasts (like myself) would know what I mean when I say this ... Have you ever wanted to grab some files or data from a spare SATA hard drive quickly, only to find out that the hard drive is bare and needs to connected up. But the only way to do this, is to wait for the computer to shutdown, reconnect the bare hard drive and then power-up the system again. How inconvenient is that?!?

Imagine, if there is a USB device that allows me to simply plug my bare SATA hard drive ... then that is all I need. I'll be able to quickly access all my data on the spare hard drive without all the hassle. So when Sharkoon asked us to take a look at their HDD docking units that supports USB3.0, we couldn't be happier ... It's what we've been waiting for, especially when we have the award-winning Gigabyte P55 USB3 as our main testing motherboard. So who is Sharkoon? For those who've never heard of Sharkoon until now ... here's a little something taken from their website.

"From a worldwide distribution network spanning more than 30 countries, we offer customers a portfolio of unrivalled products for all areas of the PC. Moreover, our selection of products is constantly developing and reaches the broadest possible group of customers. Since its inception in 2002, Sharkoon has shown consistent growth and set itself apart through steadily increasing sales.

Our goal is the continued growth and expansion of our expertise, to be demonstrated in the establishment and development of successful and sustainable business relationships with our customers and partners. Some of our biggest strengths are our flexibility and rapid response capabilities and the ability to react to future market and technology"

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In this review, we'll be taking a look at the Sharkoon Quickport Duo USB3.0. It's dual SATA hard drive docking station that supports both 2.5" inch and 3.5" inch SATA/SATA-II hard drives. While most HDD docking stations are only capable of supporting USB2.0, Sharkoon's new Quickport Duo USB3.0 supports, as the name suggests ... USB3.0.

Most tech-savvy users would know that there's a data transfer bottleneck affecting most USB2.0 devices, with a theoretical maximum of 480mbps. If fact, most USB2.0 devices never reach that speed. So, even if you have a fast USB2.0 external hard drive, you are ultimately limited to that theoretical maximum of 480mbps.

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So what so special about USB3.0? Well, it's the new standard which will eventually replace USB2.0 in the near future. So far it's adopted by Intel and NEC with more to follow. Listed below are some of the key features that USB3.0 offers.

Higher transfer rates (up to 4.8 Gbps, that's x10 the performance of USB2.0)
Increased maximum bus power and increased device current draw to better accommodate power-hungry devices
New power management features
Full-duplex data transfers and support for new transfer types
New connectors and cables for higher speed data transfer (see above) ...although they are backwards compatible with USB 2.0 devices and computers

More information can be found here ... http://www.usb.org/developers/docs/

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As you can see from the highlights above, USB3.0 seem to have the edge over USB2.0, in terms of data throughput. With this increased performance, it makes it ideal for power users who require fast data transfer ... for example during video editing or even just plain old copying data/files. We expect to see a whole host of new USB3.0 devices in 2010/2011, including digital cameras, digital camorders, thumb/pen drives and of course external hard drives.

We'll be testing the Sharkoon Quickport Duo USB3.0 using a recently extracted Western Digital 2.5" inch 160Gb SATA hard drive and standard 3.5" inch 250Gb SATA hard drive. The whole unit will be connected to our Gigabyte P55 USB3 motherboard via a special USB3.0 cable. It will be interesting to see how well it performs against a similiar device that uses a USB2.0 interface.

OK, let's not waste any more time and take a closer look at the specification of the Sharkoon Quickport Duo USB3.0 ...